Sway
by Blue Butterfly 128
Summary: Adam Copeland can't start a serious relationship; Sydney McMahon can't stop ending hers. Vince wants to get them back together. Adam just wants to find out why they broke up so that he can finally move on. And Sydney's engaged to her third fiance. Edge/OC
1. Chapter 1

**So I started this a few weeks ago, and I had a few paragraphs down, and then this weekend, it just poured out of me. So I hope you like it.**

* * *

_"Baby, what are you saying?" Adam Copeland asked, trying not to let the desperation creep into his voice._

_Sydney McMahon turned her head away from the man in front of her and bit her lip to keep the tears from falling. "It's just not going to work."_

_"You're not making any sense."_

_She couldn't stop them now and the tears rolled down her cheeks. "I can't do this anymore."_

_Adam shook his head, not understanding why his girlfriend of a year was breaking up with him. "What did I do?"_

_Sydney couldn't face him. "It's not you. I don't want you to ever think that it was you."_

_"Then what?" he pleaded to know. Sydney had been acting oddly for the last couple weeks, and considering they hadn't sex in that time, he assumed it was just that time of month, and it was worse this month than most. "Come on, Baby. Just tell me what's going on. We can fix this."_

_"No, we can't!" she cried. "There's nothing to fix. I… I just can't… I'm sorry."_

_"Sorry for what?" he questioned gently, cupping her face in his hands and turning her head back to face him._

_Sydney looked up at him with bleary eyes. "It doesn't matter. It's hard enough for me to look at you without your knowing what happened. Just let it go. We're done. I'll come back when you're on the road to get my stuff. I have to go now," she rushed, picking up her Chloe bag and heading toward the front door._

_"Stop," he called out, grabbing her arm._

_"Let me go," she struggled against him. "Please, Adam. I tried, but these last couple weeks have been unbearable for me. If you love me, you'll let me go and let me get past this on my own."_

_"What is so terrible? Did you cheat on me? Did you meet someone else? Did you kill someone?" His stomach dropped at the thought of her being unfaithful or her losing interest in him._

_Managing to twist her arm out of his grip, she bolted from the room with one last, "I'm sorry."_

_Adam stood limp and helpless as he listened to her slam the front door of his Florida house shut._

­

* * *

Click. Click. Click. With each echoing step, Adam could hear her coming closer and closer.

It had been a year and a half since their breakup, which also marked the last time that he had actually spoken to her. He had seen her a few times since then, the most recent occasion having been only a few weeks ago when they both attended the Hall of Fame. He heard that she was also at Wrestlemania, but never saw her backstage. She supposedly sat in the luxury box with Kevin Nash during the show then snuck backstage only when it was time for her family to leave the arena and grab a late dinner with the Fleihr family.

And now, even without seeing her, without anyone telling him that she would be there that night, he knew the shoes she loved to wear and he knew her rhythm. She walked down an intersecting hallway, never actually passing the trainer's room or Adam.

* * *

Click. Click. Click. Sydney walked past an entire line of superstars waiting to see her father and stopped at his designated door. With a turn of her head, she saw Brian Kendrick standing at the front of the line. "Who's in there with him?" she asked without so much as a greeting to the agile blonde wrestler.

"Uh… Orton," he replied, obviously not expecting her to acknowledge much less speak to him. He noted that she towered five inches over his five-foot-eight-inch frame as she stood gracefully and unwaveringly in her four-inch stilettos.

"Hmm," was all she said before barging unannounced into the makeshift office.

Vince McMahon looked up from his desk, obviously ready to explode at whoever dared to interrupt him until he saw his youngest child and his face softened, though the sentiment stayed. With a patient sigh of a parent, he asked, "How many times do I have to tell you to at least knock?"

"And how many times do I have to schedule a dinner for you to finally meet my fiancé?" she retorted coolly, crossing her arms.

Realizing he was in trouble, Vince had the decency to look somewhat guilty – or perhaps it was more discomfort at having been scolded like a child by his own offspring.

"Carter said he sat there for an hour before the hostess gave him your message, and even though she says that she forgot to give it to him, I have a nagging suspicion that you just waited an hour to let him know that you were going to flake… _again_. He's been following you around the country for the last month and a half, and you can't seem to manage pulling yourself away from work to meet the man that is going to be your son-in-law and my husband in a few months!"

"And whom, to date, you've only _known_ him for a few months and you're already engaged and he never even asked my permission if he could propose," Vince interrupted without a hint of anger. "In fact, it's his own fault that he proposed before meeting me. So I'm sorry if you seem to think that you've found a lasting relationship with someone like this Carter person."

"Should I leave?" Randy asked standing up, suddenly feeling uncomfortable witnessing such a personal moment between his best friend and his boss as Sydney threw her Birken bag on the floor in frustration.

"How are you going to judge him when you don't even know him yet? It's not like he really had the chance, and you know it! We were in Europe when we met and he proposed there before we even came back! And now he's trying to make up for the fact that he never knew you when we first started dating!" she demanded, completely ignoring Randy's question.

"Like I said, it's his own fault that he didn't come to me first. He couldn't have waited a few days to have met me before proposing? Did he think that your answer depended on which side of the Atlantic he proposed to you on?" Vince remained composed.

Running a hand through her dark hair, Sydney sighed. "What is this really about? You and I both know that you wouldn't be acting any differently if he had asked for your blessing before proposing."

Pushing away from his desk, Vince stood up and moved around to the other side of the desk to lean against the edge. "Actually, it does matter to me. Paul asked me before proposing to Stephanie, and Shane got the blessing of Marissa's parents too. And be quite honest, I don't think you two will get married. I don't think this guy is right for you. And I think that you're doing this to get back at Adam."

During this conversation, Randy had subtly sat back down in his seat in front of Vince's desk deciding to enjoy the show if neither was going to acknowledge him.

"Randy, get out," Sydney ordered, not taking her eyes away from her father.

"Just so you know, if I weren't such a good friend, I'd let you know that the window for kicking me out ended about a minute ago," he muttered good-naturedly as he made his way to the door.

Sydney let go as soon as she heard the wood slam shut. "How does this at all relate to Adam? It doesn't. This has nothing to do with Adam! This is about Carter and me and the fact that you don't seem to trust my judgment and care about my feelings. I love him. I love him and you don't care. He wants me and he loves me and he wants to spend the rest of his life with me and he's trying. He's really trying, and you can't just be a little more optimistic? You can't do even try to do that for me?"

Vince took a deep breath obviously not appreciating his daughter's raising her voice at him. "Sydney, did it ever occur to you that you're rushing into this? Like I said you've only known him for a few months."

"I love him," Sydney replied, her arms falling limp to her sides.

"Princess, you're only twenty-five years old. Do you think it's a good idea for you guys to be getting married so soon?"

"What's it matter how long we wait if we're meant to be together?" Sydney retorted, her eyes pleading with her father to give Carter a chance.

"I know you think that you two will be together forever, but remember, this is your third engagement in the last year-and-a-half."

"Oh, please. Logan obviously didn't mean that much to me considering I started dating Pierre a week after we broke up. And I just got caught up in the moment with Pierre. It's hard to say 'no' when he's talking with that French accent. But Carter and I – we're different than my other relationships. We're going to make it work."

After letting his gaze wander around the room aimlessly for a moment, Vince caved. "I'll meet him. But I'm not making any promises about liking him or approving of him any more than I do."

Looking up at her father with her soft eyes, Sydney gave him a slight smile. "That's all I'm asking for. Just meet him, and _then_ we can have a nice long discussion about why you don't like him."

"Why couldn't you have just stayed with Adam?" Vince persisted.

"Excuse me?"

"You and Adam were good together. I don't even know why you two broke up. Your mother says she doesn't know, and claims that she can't get it out of Stephanie, who also tells me that she doesn't know. It's all a big conspiracy with you women," he half-lectured, half-rambled.

"Dad, listen to what you're saying."

"Oh, so it's my fault the women in my family claim not to know anything about your relationships?"

Sydney couldn't help but let the smile on her lips grow. "That's because they don't. They don't know any more about what happened between me and Adam than you do. And if they do, they didn't hear it from me. Does that make you feel any better?" she tried to appease the chairman.

"A little. But I still don't believe you that they don't know. They always know. But I appreciate your trying to make me feel better," he replied stubbornly.

Sydney stepped closer to her father. "Don't worry. He didn't do anything wrong. It was my fault."

"Well, that's good to know. Otherwise I'd have to fire him," Vince said as he pulled his daughter into a hug.

Rolling her eyes, Sydney returned the embrace, adding, "You wouldn't fire him. He's your best heel."

"He's replaceable if he hurt my baby," Vince murmured stubbornly, though they both knew that Sydney was right.

Sydney sighed as she stepped back to look at Vince. "He didn't. He was good to me," she assured her father. "I'm the one that messed things up."

"Were you happy with him?"

Questioning for a moment whether or not to answer, Sydney decided to humor her father. "Yes. Of course I was. I wouldn't have stayed with him for so long if I weren't."

"Then I'm sure whatever happened, it's nothing that can't be fixed," Vince continued pushily.

"Dad," Sydney said pointedly. "Adam and I are over. It's been over a year. He's moved on by now. And so have I. And obviously, it's time for you to get over it too. And the best way to do that is to try to get along with Carter. Now, I'm going to go call him and see when he wants to reschedule for, alright?"

With a begrudged nod and mumbled words Sydney couldn't make out, Vince agreed.

"I'll see you later, Daddy," Sydney said as she gave Vince a quick kiss on the cheek before hurrying out of the room, not noticing the wheels that had been turning in her father's head.

* * *

**So that was it. Let me know what you think. Hopefully this is a sign that my writing is coming back to me and I can update my other stories too! Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I forgot this in the first chapter, but unsurprisingly I don't own anything, nor am I making anything.

* * *

"Just one more time," Sydney tried to persuade her fiancé.

"Darling, as much as I would love to get stood up by your father again, I don't think my ego could take it when he doesn't show up again," Carter Westin argued in the British accent Sydney adored.

Rolling her eyes, Sydney was thankful that he was on the other end of the phone line rather than in front of her. "Look, it's important to me that you meet him and the rest of my family."

"And it's important to me that I keep a scrap of my dignity. It's insulting to me and my family when your father disregards his obligation to meet me on multiple occasions," he answered, anger obvious in his tone.

"Do you think this is easy for him? I went on vacation three months ago only to come back with a fiancé instead of a snow globe for a souvenir."

"And I've been wasting the last two months of my life trying to get him to fit me into his schedule."

"So what, you're just not going to meet him ever?" she nearly shouted into her iPhone.

"I didn't say that. It'll just have to wait until the rehearsal dinner I suppose," he said nonchalantly. "We have to meet at some point if he intends on being a part of our wedding. And it works out since we'll be getting married in a few months. I'll only not know him for three more months at the longest."

"Do you think this is a joke?" demanded Sydney, her voice at full tantrum volume. "You really don't intend on meeting my family until the wedding?"

"Well I can meet the rest of your family, Love. Your father will just have to wait," he snapped back.

Sydney was almost speechless. "Fine, if you're okay with not meeting my family, then you should be okay with not getting married!"

"You don't mean that. You're just upset. I understand, but you have to know that this isn't an ideal situation for me either. You really think that I want to wait until your father is forced to accept me into your family because we're actually married at that point? No. But the fact is that he has stiffed me every single time we've arranged to meet. And that's not fair to me."

"You think that my father's being a little stubborn about meeting you is unacceptable? Do you know that your mother calls me at least once a week to tell me how to fold your shirt the way you like it, or what temperature you like your coffee in the morning or how you like your sandwiches cut? If I have to put up with her shit, you can put up with my father's."

"My mother is just ensuring that you are aware of what your responsibilities as my wife will be."

"How exactly do you envision us married? Do you think that I'm going to wait on you in the morning then send you off to work with your lunch in a brown paper bag?"

"Of course I don't expect you to wait on me. That's what the household staff is for. But part of marrying me is becoming a society wife. But don't worry; you'll still have plenty of time to go shopping and wondering about London."

"Who says we're living in London?" she shrieked.

"Well, that's where my family business operates," Carter pointed out. "It's not like you have a job tying you down to any one place."

"But my family –. You know what, we'll talk about this later. I can't deal with you right now," Sydney said before hanging up without waiting for a response.

* * *

"You wanted to see me, Vince?" Adam asked, poking his head into the office after cutting the rest of the line and giving a curt knock.

"Adam. Yes. Yes, I do. Randy, do you mind?" Vince looked to the door.

Dragging himself out of the chair again, he threatened lightheartedly, "If I get kicked out one more time, I'm not coming back."

"So that's how I get you to leave my office," Vince mused sarcastically.

Once the door shut behind Randy, Adam filled his vacated seat. "So did you need something?"

"How would you like to be on 'Raw' again?"

"I am back on 'Raw', Vince. Remember? Eight-man tag match tonight?"

Vince shook his head. "I mean moving you back for the long-term. And getting rid of this whole Vickie-storyline. It's a little too unbelievable. Stephanie and I have been talking about this for a while and we already have some ideas about where your character would go with the move. And it'll be good to rearrange the roster a bit."

"I'm actually really enjoying my program with Mark right now," Adam answered, not understanding where Vince's proposal was coming from.

"Well, we were planning on letting you finish up your program with Mark, but maybe cut the timeframe in half and toward the end you turn on Vickie and talk about how you only faked your relationship to try to get the title back, and that didn't even work properly, and you wasted all this time on her when you could have been on 'Raw' with the woman you do actually love, and then we'll –"

"Whoa, Vince," Adam interrupted. "Slow down. I thought Mark and I were going to have another year on this feud."

Vince stared at the Canadian in front of him. "Was Sydney the one who broke up with you?"

"E-ex-excuse me?" Adam stuttered.

"Who broke up with whom?" Vince repeated.

Caught off guard, Adam's eyes darted uncomfortably around the room for a moment. "Umm… Uh… she broke up with me."

"Why?" was Vince's immediate reaction.

Adam shook his head. "I couldn't tell you. She didn't really say. Just that she couldn't be with me anymore. I asked, but she never gave me a straight answer."

A contemplative look covered Vince's worn face. "You took that blonde to the Hall of Fame a few weeks ago. Is it anything serious?"

Deciding to simply accept that Vince had a legitimate reason for his line of questioning, Adam answered, "Not really. I've only seen her once since then."

"Good," Vince nodded. "Do you still love her?"

"I've only known her for a few months. So I wouldn't say that I ever loved her to begin with," Adam said, obviously confused.

"Not the blonde. Sydney. Do you still love Sydney?" Vince anxiously explained.

"Vince, I –"

"Just answer the question," the older man interrupted.

Adam stared at his boss with his jaw hanging open.

Vince waited patiently, though the intensity of his stare never faltered.

Finally closing his mouth, the blonde wrestler nodded. "Yeah… I still love her."

For a moment it looked as though Vince was praying. "Good. Now go win her back and get this Carter kid out of my hair before I lose it all."

Even with the dismissal, Adam couldn't move. "Wait… what just happened?"

Vince sighed. "Look, I know you. I like you."

"Really? I always thought you hated my dating Sydney."

"Well, I didn't trust you at first, with good reason. But if I had to, I could force myself to welcome you into our family. You make Sydney happy. But ever since you two broke up she's just been hopping from country to country leaving a trail of broken-hearted ex-boyfriends and bringing home the occasional fiancé. This is just her way of being restless and channeling something into some other psycho-babble. My point is that she's not happy. You made her happy. I want my daughter to be happy, and you're going to be the one who does it. Are we clear?"

"So you _want_ me to break up your daughter and her fiancé?"

"Not just break them up," Vince said conspiratorially. "I want you to steal her away from him and make sure that she never makes me meet another one of those snotty little kids that she insists she loves."

"Not that I don't appreciate your… support? – but there's a reason she broke up with me. I don't think professing my love and telling her that I want her back is going to win her over that easily."

"But that is why my family is willing to help. Stephanie and Marissa loved you and Sydney together, Shane still considers you a good friend, Paul likes you well enough, and Linda and I have given you our trust to be good to her, and we still think you would be, even with the 'Amy-Matt Debacle' hanging over your head."

Adam cleared his suddenly dry throat at the mention of his public love triangle.

"You don't need to explain yourself. You and Amy were wrong for going about your relationship the way you did, but I did use your personal life for a storyline. So I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you don't usually conduct yourself that way in a relationship."

"Exactly how long have you been thinking about all this?" Adam asked amusedly, trying to lighten the magnitude of the situation. Not many men could say that the father of an ex-girlfriend asked him to break up said ex and her new fiancé.

"Well, Sydney met him three months ago, said she was in love a week later, and came back and told us she was engaged two months ago, so I've been planning this for about… 2 months and three weeks."

Adam nodded.

"Look, in all seriousness, I know it sounds more like I'm trying to save myself from the men that Sydney likes to torture me with, but I've never seen my daughter look at someone the way she looked at you. And in that year you two were together, and I got to know you as more than an employee, I thought she'd found someone good for her. No more football players, or rappers, or actors, or European playboys, who seem to be her current trend. You made her happy, and you're a good man. That's all I could ask for her."

Adam let out a short laugh at the irony of Vince giving his approval after Adam and Sydney had broken up while letting him think that Vince hated him while the couple was actually together. "I know it's weird since Sydney and I aren't together, but it means a lot that you like us together. But, as much as I still care about her, I don't feel right trying to steal her away. I mean, I took a girlfriend from someone before and –"

"And you got the biggest push of your career!"

"And I lost a friend and got a lot of justified heat. It's her choice who she wants to be with, and if she thinks she loves this guy, I'm not going to interfere."

Vince nodded tersely.

"Did you need anything else?" Adam asked, standing up and readying himself to leave.

Vince shook his head wordlessly.

"Alright."

Randy entered as Adam exited the room. "Are you okay, Vince?" he checked seeing the contemplative look on his boss' face.

After studying Randy for a moment, Vince re-evaluated his plan and inquired, "You've met Carter, right?" At Randy's nod he continued, "What did you think about him?"

Randy shrugged. "He seemed like an okay guy. Sydney's… different around him though. I think that they're still in that new couple phase."

"Do you like him?"

Another shrug. "I only met the guy twice, maybe three times. Not the kind of guy I imagined her ending up with though."

"So you agree, huh?" Vince said, more to himself than to Randy.

"Agree with what?"

"Is he a big guy?"

Taking a second to recall the physical image of Carter Westin, Randy nodded. "He's like six-two. Kind of skinny though. Even the short guys on the roster could probably kick his ass."

"Good to know," Vince murmured again.

"What's going on, Vince?"

"You care about my daughter, right?" he said with a hint of mischievousness.

"Vince, you know she's one of my best friends."

Throwing an arm around Randy's shoulders, Vince steered him back to his earlier seat. "Make yourself comfortable. We have a lot to talk about."

* * *

Hey everyone! So that was the second chapter. I hope you guys liked it. Let me know what you think because I have like, three, almost four, more chapters already written, and looking at all of it I kind of feel like it's moving a little slow, but at the same time, I feel like it sort of gives you a feel for everything first. For all I know none of you are thinking of that yet because it _is_ only the second chapter, but if you guys aren't feeling it so far, whether it's any of the characters, or the speed of the actual story, you have to tell me so that I can fix it! So go review it! Thanks for reading! Kisses!


	3. Chapter 3

"So what'd Vince want to talk to you about

"So what'd Vince want to talk to you about?" Randy asked as the waitress dropped off their beers.

"It was bizarre, man," Adam replied, giving her a wink as she slipped him a napkin with her number. Taking a swig of his drink he recalled the conversation with the chairman aloud, as he had done a million times in his head already that night. "He started by talking about how he wants to move me back to 'Raw' then he goes off on a tangent about me and Sydney. I wonder if he's starting to get senile," he mused to himself.

"Damn, did you guys _see_ Sydney today, though?" John Hennigan asked, enjoying his own bottle. "She's still looking good."

"If I weren't married and she weren't my best friend, I'd totally try to hook up with her," Randy laughed, watching Adam for a response.

"How'd you let that one go, Copeland?" Anthony Carelli questioned, knowing that he personally would not let the boss' daughter get away if he had the opportunity to date her.

Adam glanced at the men gathered around the table for a post-show drink, who were all looking back expectantly. "I actually didn't see her all night. But, uh… it just… didn't work out. It happens, you know?" he said coolly.

"I hear you. As hot as they are, sometimes they're not worth the shit that you have to deal with," Lance Cade inputted. "Especially considering that some of her friends are those Hollywood chicks. She's got to hit a new level of shallow after hanging out with them."

Randy rose to Sydney's defense, "Dude, you don't even know her."

"Oh, come on, man. She's got a worse reputation than Stephanie backstage. She barely acknowledges any of the wrestlers unless they're close to her family. Case in point, you," Lance fought back.

"Like she's even around enough to have enough time to get to know everyone," Randy continued to defend the youngest McMahon.

Lance nodded. "That's another good point. She's wrestling royalty but she doesn't even care about it to hang around and meet the people who are putting money in her family's bank account."

"So just because her family enjoys something means that she automatically enjoys it? Wrestling isn't genetically passed down."

"Yeah, all the legacies in this business, again including you, prove that loving wrestling has nothing to do with your family's involvement in it. And anyways, maybe she doesn't have to like it, but she could at least show some appreciation and respect for all the guys that bust their asses for her family's company. Instead she walks around like a prissy bitch who thinks she owns the place and we're just something that she stepped in."

"She does own part of the company, dumbass," Randy informed the much larger wrestler.

"Let's go back to the shallow end of the pool," John Cena suggested before Randy could reply to Lance's remarks, waving the waitress over with the intention of ordering the first round of shots.

"She's not really like that. I mean, all the things you hear, it's all bullshit," Adam said, feeling the need to contribute something to the conversation about his ex-girlfriend. "Just so you know," he shrugged.

* * *

"Dude, are you okay?" Chris asked as he drove himself, Randy, and Adam back to the hotel from the bar. The guys had stayed until last call, and their waitress had nearly begged Adam to go back to her place or to take her back to his hotel room, which he probably would have, had Randy not intercepted the inebriated Canadian and reminded him that, "We're going to do the thing, at the place, like we talked about that time." As "the plan" suddenly came back to the blonde wrestler, he apologized to Carrie and promised to give her a call sometime. It had taken at least a half hour to pry the waitress off him though, and after getting into the car, with his head a little clearer, Adam asked Randy to remind him what the plan was, but Randy oddly couldn't remember ever mentioning a "thing" of any sort to Adam.

Letting his head tip back onto the head rest, Adam sighed. "I just can't get that conversation with Vince out of my head. He propositioned me to break up Syd and her fiancé," he slurred slightly, sipping at the bottle of water Randy had grabbed before they left the bar.

"I was thinking more along the lines of, 'Are you going to puke in the car rented under my name?', but we can go with that too," Chris shrugged, as his eyes darted from his fellow blonde and the road ahead.

"Oh," Adam deadpanned. "Well, so far so good. I think you're safe on the car front."

"He asked you to break them up? Really?" Randy asked curiously in order to re-route their discussion, although Vince had already disclosed the details of that conversation to him earlier in the day – along with an assignment. "Do you know that he hasn't even met the guy?"

"No?" Adam asked drowsily.

"Nope. He's just tired of meeting all of Sydney's loser boyfriends who just wasted his and Syd's time," Randy said. "I mean, Logan he hated; he was your standard beach bum, wannabe celebrity with no work ethic and all that. Just took Syd and partied all the time. Pierre had a stick up his ass and wanted to control everything. And now he just doesn't want to have to deal with this new kid."

"How do you know all this?" Chris laughed.

"Sydney needs to vent to someone," Randy pointed out. "Do you know she's scheduled like five dinners for Carter to meet Vince and Vince has blown him off on every single one?"

"Shit," Chris muttered. "Sucks for him. But seriously, who is Vince going to approve of for his youngest kid? And she's a girl, at that."

Adam lazily turned his head to face the other blonde Canadian. "He told me that he liked me with her. And that he'd be willing to make me a part of his family."

"Then dude, what are doing with us? You should be out there trying to get her back!" Randy encouraged him, finally finding an opening. "I mean, it's been a year and a half since you two broke up, and she hasn't had a serious relationship since. Yeah, she's had three fiancés, but she dated you longer than she's been with the three of them combined. And she never went through with any of them! Don't you think that means something?"

"That she's incredibly fickle?" Chris responded with a snort.

Randy rolled his eyes, "No."

"That she's enjoying her single life?" Chris answered again, interrupting Randy. "Dude, they're both past it. You should try moving on too."

Deciding that just using the truth wasn't working out too well in his favor, Randy decided to… embellish a bit. "Well if she's moved on, why does she always compare her new boyfriends to Adam? If she's so 'past it,' then why does she always ask me about how you're dong? Or if you've been seeing anyone lately? How often you have a one-night stand? That one kills her."

"Then why doesn't she say anything to him?" Chris asked. "She has the power to fix whatever went down between them. It's her own damn fault."

Randy pretended to ponder the question for a moment before pointing out the obvious, "Call it a hunch, but it could have something to do with the fact that Adam fucks every skirt he sees."

"I do not," Adam protested.

"You do, man," Chris inputted before returning his attention to Randy. "But, maybe if you didn't tell her everything like a fucking gossip, she wouldn't feel so shitty."

"Yes, because I'm going to lie to my best friend so that she can go back to an ex-boyfriend who turned out to be a bigger man slut than I was."

"Hey!" Adam interjected before being interrupted by Chris' reply.

"So do you want them to get back together or not? You're saying that they should get back together, but then you're saying Syd's too good for Adam," Chris argued.

"If Adam would just cut the shit and decide that he would rather be in a relationship than bed hopping, then yes, they should get back together. But if he's going to be a dick and just wants to fuck around with her like he does with every other girl, then no."

"And what about the fact that she's with someone else?" Chris pointed out another flaw.

"Like Carter's even –"

"Hey!" Adam shouted, effectively cutting off Randy. "I'm still in the car. And you of all people should know that I would never fuck around with her for the hell of it. Besides, I already told Vince I can't steal her away from that kid."

"It's not stealing if she's yours to take!" Randy said, wanting to reach over the front seat and shake his former tag partner.

"And what makes you think she's still mine? Because she asks about me? Because she wants to know that she's in a better position than I am? Because she wants to know that I'm miserable without her?"

"You're miserable without her?" Randy repeated Adam's words.

"That's not what I meant," Adam backtracked with a sigh at his slip.

"Why are you still hung up on her?" Chris spoke up. "She's on her third fiancé and you're on your three-thousandth waitress."

"I'm not still hung up on her," he snapped back a little too quickly.

"If you say so," Chris coughed. "But seriously, just get some closure, push her out of your mind, find someone else better than her, and rub it in her face."

"No!" Randy protested. "She's just waiting for you to sweep in and take her back. Come on, man, she's a McMahon. She's not just going to come up to you, or even me, and say that she wants to get back together with you. Asking about you is her way of letting me know that she wants you to know that she still wants you without saying it. That's how girls operate, dude."

"Why is it _my_ love life that we're dissecting here?" Adam wanted to know.

"Because Chris and I are both married now. We have to live vicariously through you while we can," Randy joked. "Now, ignore what Chris just said, stop being a little bitch, and fight for the woman you love."

"Guys, we're done. Sydney and I had our chance. And now we're past it."

"You just think she's past it, and we all know you're not past it," Randy rebutted.

The second Chris pulled into the parking spot at the hotel Adam opened the door and rushed out of the car, throwing a hasty, "Goodnight," over his shoulder, unable to continue listening to either man and his opinions about _his_ relationship, or lack thereof, with Sydney. Rather than waiting for the elevator and risk getting caught in the confined space with either man or, more likely, both men, he marched up nine flights of stairs, reasoning that the cardio was good for him.

* * *

_It's not stealing if she's yours to take!_

Was she honestly still his?

What had happened between them?

Upon entering his room, Adam threw himself onto the bed, Randy's words still echoing in his head. There was no way she was waiting for him. She had _never_ waited for him. In the time immediately following their breakup, Adam had called her numerous times a day for a few weeks. He finally stopped when a paparazzi picture of her walking hand-in-hand with some B-List rocker flashed on his television screen when he was channel surfing. He knew that he had lost her after that.

Within a few months of their breakup, Adam had been able to start dating again, but every time he met someone he could potentially start a relationship with, he got caught in a loop. He would begin to think back to the mysterious breakup, and he would choke. He lost his charm and personality. He would tune out while thinking of Sydney and how not to repeat moments he'd had with ehr. Occasionally he let Syd's name slip while talking to the new potential girlfriend. And then that was it. The girls would stop trying to call him, and when he did manage to call them, they didn't want to deal with him. So after about six months of trying to date, he decided the bachelor life wasn't bad, and that one night stands were the best kind of relationships for a guy like him.

But thinking about it now, he realized that he liked committed relationships. Obviously with his schedule and lifestyle, he didn't really have the time. But the stability of knowing that in the hectic world of wrestling that there was one constant was always nice.

His anger started to rise. He had wasted a year loving a woman who couldn't even explain herself when the time came for them to breakup. Then he had spent another year and a half screwing up new relationships because of the doubt she had planted in him. And for what? So that he could torture himself by watching Sydney continue to live her life while he lived his on repeat? And now, here he was, alone in his hotel room and ranting to himself!

"Hey, man. Open up!" Randy's voice called out through the door, pulling Adam out of his musings.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, Adam pushed himself off the bed and headed to the door. "Look, man, I'm not really in the mood for –"

"You left your bag in the car," Randy interrupted, shoving the black duffle into Adam's chest.

"Oh," Adam replied sheepishly, accepting the bag. "Thanks," he murmured.

"Don't mention it. But since I'm here," Randy said as he pushed his way into Adam's room, "I might as well ask why you bolted from the car so fast."

Shutting the door, Adam gave Randy an un-amused glare. "Like I started to say, I'm not really in the mood for any company."

"So it's a night of you and the voices in your head tonight?" Randy teased.

"And what if it is?" Adam shot back, not liking how right Randy actually was.

"I just want my voice to be one of them. Just, think about everything I said."

"Oh, I've been thinking about it, and the more I think about, the more I think Chris is right. I just need to move on," Adam said decidedly. "I mean, I've met plenty of women who could have made me happy and the only reason I fucked all those chances up was because of what she did to me. I need to get over it!" Whatever _it_ was. "And she's going to help me," he suddenly decided. Logically, she was the only person who could help him because she was the only one who knew what was going on.

"That's not quite the conclusion I wanted you to come to," Randy protested, thinking that Vince would not be happy with this turn of events.

"But it's my conclusion. Now if you'll leave, all this thinking and brooding has worn me out for the night," he said, opening the door.

Wordlessly and with a pout on his face, Randy let Adam push him out of the room. "He's still got it bad," was all Randy said before heading down the hall toward his own room.

* * *

Sorry this update took so long! I was going over everything and trying to kind of tweak the flow of the story and some of the plot. I don't think it really did much though… but I'll let you be the judge. Thanks for reading! Please review! I really like hearing your opinions! Thanks again!

Oh… and I'll try to be quicker with the next update!


	4. Chapter 4

"So when do I get to meet this new fellow of yours?" Vince questioned, approaching his daughter in the kitchen. After Monday, Sydney had decided to stay with her family for the week considering that she had been in L.A. for most of the time since she returned from Europe. So, she showed up at her parents' house and spent some time with her mother on Tuesday, and was now seeing her father again on Wednesday.

Automatically suspicious from her father's sudden enthusiasm at meeting Carter, Sydney eyed him warily while rinsing her apple in the kitchen sink. "Actually, he didn't want to reschedule dinner. He was a little… concerned that he would end up dining alone, like the last five times. Not to mention those wasted airline miles. So we decided that he'll be coming to stay here for the next few days until we go to New York. And it really works out since he was supposed to go to New York to look at some properties and I was going to meet him there to check them out too. But he just pushed that back, added a detour through here, and we're going to go together at the end of the week," she informed him cheerfully.

"He's coming tonight?"

"Yup. Isn't it weird how his flight ended up being the same day as your weekly dinner with Shane and Steph?"

"And he's staying here?"

"Yeah. I could have sworn I told you all this already," she feigned surprise. "He should be here soon. His flight landed about forty-five minutes ago. Shane and Paul went to go pick up."

"Shane? And Paul? They're both picking him up?"

"I was going to do it, but when Shane found out that Carter was visiting, he volunteered himself and Paul. Something about male bonding without women," Sydney rolled her eyes.

"Well, what a nice surprise," Vince remarked as he pressed a chaste kiss to his daughter's forehead. "I'm going to go find your mother," he announced as he leisurely exited the kitchen. As soon as he was out of her Sydney's sight, he pulled out his BlackBerry and tried to get in touch with his son.

* * *

Shane McMahon glanced at the Brit through the rearview mirror again, vexed at the fact that the man did not seem the slightest bit uncomfortable in the presence of him and his more muscular brother-in-law. Coming to the gated driveway, Shane nodded to the security guard who granted him entrance. After parking the car, he popped the trunk before climbing out and following Paul inside the house, leaving Carter to tend to his own bags as they had at the airport.

"Hey, Dad," Shane greeted discreetly as Vince met them in the foyer.

"Where is he?" Vince asked, his eyes shifting from the door back to his son then to his son-in-law.

"Getting his bags out of the car," Paul answered with a grin. "Where are the girls?"

"Sydney and Linda are upstairs changing and Stephanie and Marissa aren't here yet. Probably getting all dressed up for this kid," Vince grumbled.

"Hello!" they heard Stephanie's voice call out as she stepped inside with her growing six-month pregnant belly. Paul immediately went to his wife's side to help her in and with Aurora's bag, who was clapping away happily in her Aunt Marissa's arms next to her cousin Kenyon. Declan slipped past his mother, and bypassing his father ran straight to Vince.

"So look who we found outside," Marissa commented as Shane gave her a quick kiss and took his niece from her full arms. Carter finally managed to roll his suitcases up the stone walkway to the front door.

"I had the pleasure of meeting your lovely wives and children outside," Carter said charmingly as he readjusted his blazer. Walking directly up to Vince, Carter held out a hand. "Mr. McMahon, Carter Westin. It's an honor to _finally_ meet you," he said cheekily.

Shifting Declan to his left side, Vince firmly shook the young man's hand. "Nice to meet you too, Carter. My apologies for all the scheduling conflicts," Vince smirked.

"Not a problem, Sir," Carter assured him calmly.

"I guess you've pretty much met everyone," Sydney announced walking down the stairs with her mother. Once she reached the bottom, she made her way to Carter's side. "Well, this is my mom, Linda. Mom this is Carter."

"Mrs. McMahon," he greeted politely, taking Linda's hand placing a kiss atop it.

With a laugh, Linda looked at Vince with surprise. "It's nice to meet you," she replied once Carter straightened back up.

Paul and Shane watched with disgust.

Feeling the tension in the air, Sydney tugged on Carter's arm as she offered, "Why don't I show you around the house and where you'll be staying."

"Where exactly is he staying?" Vince asked when Sydney and Carter were halfway up the staircase.

With a smirk, Sydney began pulling her fiancé upstairs again and answered, "My room. And Shane, be a dear and bring his bags up, will you? Thanks!" she threw over her shoulder as the two disappeared.

* * *

Sydney sat atop the counter in the center of the kitchen still in her dress from dinner, distractedly poking at the pint of sorbet in her hand. Dinner had gone horribly. Carter tried to be as polite and as endearing as possible but her family refused to play nicely. Her father, brother, and brother-in-law interrogated their guest the whole time, obviously enjoying playing good cop, bad cop while ignoring her attempts to talk about the actual wedding. Her father and brother were obviously the bad cops and Paul played the sympathetic, I-was-in-your-position-once good cop. The occasional mention of Sydney's past boyfriends, namely Adam, shocked Sydney into more than a few momentary silences. Of course, Stephanie and Marissa weren't helping at all; instead they found their husbands' behavior humorous and could only stifle their laughs. Linda would give Vince a nagging look, which only led to his quieting down for a few minutes before resuming his dinner entertainment with his sons. They were all lucky that Sydney had learned better control of her impulses over the last few years, resisting the urge to throw wine in all their faces.

After dinner, Carter politely declined dessert and coffee, instead heading upstairs to make a few work-related phone calls and shower, leaving Sydney with her less-than-hospitable family. Rather than sitting with them and the children to pick at her dessert, she opted for the kitchen where she could be alone with her thoughts.

"You know, I liked Logan," Shane interrupted his sister's musings, leaning next to her against the edge of the island. "He was young, but you both were, and you had a good chemistry with each other. He adored you. Everyone could see it. You were both just too immature to deal with getting engaged and planning a wedding. And I don't think that you gave it enough time. If you two had just stayed together and worked at it, I'm sure you would have made it. But you just gave up on him too easily."

Turning to give her brother a dry look, Sydney said, "What would you know about that? Of course you think anything can be worked out. The only person you've ever had to work anything out with was Marissa. Not everyone knows who they want to be with when they're ten, like you two did."

"Pierre was okay. I thought that you started dating him because he was so un-Logan; he was serious, and dry, and French. Logan at least knew how to take a joke and liked to just hang out with us. But Pierre, everything was always business."

"What are you doing?" she asked, as he pulled the sorbet out of her grasp and took a bite.

"Having dessert," he replied obviously.

With an eye roll, Sydney snatched her sorbet back. "What's with the history lesson? It's not like I can't remember them."

"Oh, right, back to Pierre. He was too serious for you. You need someone who's responsible, but can have fun; someone who balances you out, but can tip the scale over with you. And it seems to me, that you think you've found that in Carter," Shane concluded, trying to steal the frozen treat back.

"Yes, I have," Sydney grunted as she struggled with Shane's insistent pulling. "Fine!" she shouted, letting go, causing him to stumble slightly.

With a victorious grin, he took another huge bite. "But I think that you went through all the trouble of dating all those guys, and all you managed to learn was that you wanted a cheap knockoff of a guy that you already had."

"Carter is _nothing_ like Logan," Sydney argued. "He actually goes to work, as opposed to surfing all day and partying all night. He's worked hard to get the position that he has in his family's company. Logan just seems to think that being a C-List celebrity for the rest of his life will pay the bills. And –"

"Logan's not the original that I'm talking about," Shane interjected, handing the now mostly melted sorbet back to his sister.

Sydney knew who he was talking about, but refused to give him the satisfaction of admitting that she knew to whom he was referring. "Shane, I don't think you can really say that Evan is now what I want or need. I mean, we dated in the fifth grade. I haven't seen him for _years_."

With an exasperated smile, Shane wrapped an arm around the youngest McMahon. "You think you're so funny. But just because you can make jokes about it doesn't mean that you don't take your relationship with Adam seriously. You know, it's okay to admit that he meant a lot to you."

"Of course he meant a lot to me. But you see this big, fat diamond on my finger? This means that I am past Adam. He meant something so me once, yeah, but now I'm with Carter and he means the most to me," she said, shoving her six-carat engagement ring in Shane's face, nearly blinding him with the stone; she barely missed jabbing him in the eye with the jewel.

"Careful with that thing," he scolded. "They let you onto a plane wearing that, but they confiscate my nail clippers?"

"You better watch your mouth," she threatened jokingly, swinging her hand at him.

"I'm sure that you're fiancé would be glad to know that you use his symbol of love for you as a weapon. Against your own brother no less," Shane said, jumping back a bit to get out of Sydney's arm span.

Hopping off the counter, Sydney covered the sorbet and placed it back in the freezer.

Shane embraced her in a hug as she closed the heavy door. "Do you ever miss Adam?"

"What is up with you guys and Adam lately?"

"What's up with your avoiding any question about him?"

"Why are you answering my question with a question?"

"Do you realize that you're being a hypocrite?"

"Do you realize that you're a pain in my ass?" she punctuated her question with a shove, effectively breaking the hold he had on her.

Shane followed her as she pushed herself back up onto the counter. "Why'd you two break up? Nobody seems to know. Stephanie's asked all the divas –"

"Because I'm best friends with all the divas," Sydney retorted sarcastically.

Ignoring her comment, Shane continued, "I've talked to Adam and his friends, Dad's asked Don if Ivanka mentioned anything about it to him."

"Which she hasn't," Sydney stated confidently.

"You know we'd take care of it if he hurt you, right?"

Sydney closed her eyes in frustration. "It's not his fault! There's nothing he could have done to change what happened. It was me, and I'm over it, and I really don't want to get into it again. My turn to ask questions," she announced bossily. "Adam and I broke up a year and a half ago. Why the sudden interest?"

"Well you know, you're bringing a fiancé home," Shane said honestly. "And no, it's not the first time, but it does put things into perspective. We figured with each fiancé you bring home, the chance of you actually getting married to him is greater than the last. So we decided to bite this thing in the ass early. Besides, once you two get married, he'll be a part of my family too. And I just think that I should have some sort of input in the decision."

Knowing whether or not she asked, Shane would offer it, so she figured she might as well get the formality out of the way. "And what is your input?"

"You could do better. Why are you settling? You're a McMahon, damn it. You know what you want, and you go get it."

Sydney stared into his eyes. "I'm happy with him. I really am. I want him, and I have him."

Obviously his sister was not picking up on what he was trying to say. He let his head loll back as he let out a sigh. Looking around the room to gather his thoughts, it was then that he noticed someone standing in the doorway. "Hey, Carter," Shane greeted awkwardly.

"Hey," he returned with an insuppressible grin on his lips. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but your parents told me I could find my fiancé in here."

"Well you found her, so I guess I'll just leave you two alone," Shane said, defeat in his voice. He watched from Carter's spot as said man walked over to the counter and wrapping his arms around her slim frame pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. Deciding that the image of his sister making out with her boyfriend was quite unnecessary, Shane retreated back to his family. The couple may have won this battle, but the war was far from over.


	5. Chapter 5

"So how much of my brother's crazy rants did you hear?" Sydney asked, sliding into bed next to Carter, running her fingers through his black hair as soon as she was pressed to his side.

He shrugged as best he could while lying down. "I had just gotten there. I heard you asking him why he was interested in something. I'm guessing it's the ex that your father liked to namedrop during dinner," he laughed.

"I'm sorry," she said sadly. "They're acting like babies," Sydney pouted, visibly upset with her family's – more specifically Vince's, Shane's and Paul's – lack of warmth to her fiancé. "I just want them to see how wonderful you are."

"Well, all they see me as is a European snob who seduced their baby and convinced you to marry in a month's time," Carter said understandingly.

"You shouldn't have to put up with this though."

"Don't worry, Darling. We have the rest of our lives to trick them into liking me," he assured her, caressing her face softly. "And if it takes that long, then so be it. You know that I didn't mean it the other day when I said that it'd be ok if I didn't meet your father until the wedding, right?"

"I know," she smiled at him. "We both just said things to say them."

"Like your threatening to call off the wedding?"

Sydney had the decency to look sheepish at the mention of her warning. "Yes, like that."

"You know, I kind of like this arrangement of spending half the year in London and half the year in the States," he mused contentedly. "It's a good chance for us to get away from my mother, whom I spoke to yesterday about what you said the other day."

Sydney couldn't help the eye roll. "I know she's trying to help, and you know that your mother and I usually get along, but she gets into her 'mommy-mode' and she acts like I don't know anything about you."

"And I told her that we haven't been together that long, but so far we've done a pretty good job of making each other happy. And we are both committed to making each other happy in the future."

"You're so cheesy," she giggled, poking him lightly in the side.

After a bit of retaliation, Carter stilled her hands. "Only for you, Love."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Sydney pressed a sleepy kiss to his lips before replying. "I love you."

"I love you too. Goodnight, Darling," he whispered before reaching over to turn off the lamp on the nightstand and pulling her protectively into his embrace.

* * *

Stephanie McMahon entered her parents' house as quietly as possible, not knowing if her sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law were still asleep, but she could hear the bustle of her mother and father getting ready in the master bedroom further into the house. Making her way into the kitchen with the brown paper bag of freshly baked bagels, she was surprised to find her sister sitting on her favorite spot on the kitchen counter with a glass of juice in her hand. "Hungry?" Stephanie asked after fishing out a honey and oat bagel and holding it out in offering.

Sydney snapped out of her daze and after a moment to take in the situation, accepted the carb-loaded bagel. "Thanks."

"You were thinking pretty hard there," Stephanie pointed out serenely.

Picking at an oat on the bagel, Sydney just shrugged. "Just a lot on my mind I guess. Dress plans. Seating plans. Food plans. Reception plans. Invitations. Dad hating Carter. The usual pre-wedding logistics."

Leaning in the same manner Shane had the night before against the counter, Stephanie let her sister's head fall on her shoulder. "Dad doesn't hate Carter," she tried to comfort her sister with the blatant lie. "He just… doesn't want you rushing into something you'll regret. With someone you'll regret."

Sydney shot up at that point. "I love him. Why can't anyone accept that? I love him and I want to be with him. There's no way I would regret marrying him."

"I don't doubt that you love him. None of us do. Our point is that –"

"_Our_ point? What is this, some sort of group effort?" Sydney accused.

Stephanie sighed. "There's no effort. We've just all talked about this before."

"So you guys have been planning out how you're going to shun Carter. Wonderful!"

"It's not like that," Stephanie shook her head.

"Then what's it like?"

"We just don't think he's the right one for you."

"Let me guess," Sydney picked up again. "You, like Shane, think that I should go back to Adam. What is so great about Adam that you're all falling over yourselves to get me back together with him?"

"Do you really need a list?" Stephanie asked.

Sydney nodded. "I want to know what he has on Carter that you guys can't get over."

"He understands our family and our business. Just thinking about him was enough to make you smile. He knew how to stand up to you, and he wasn't scared to tell you when you were being a bitch. He got along with Shane and Paul. He never used you to get the title or a bigger push. He drove the guys crazy talking about –"

"I get it. But you guys won't even give Carter a chance. He's trying so hard to fit into this world for you guys. I couldn't care less if he knew who Mark or Paul or Ric are as wrestlers. But he's still trying to make an effort to try to connect to you guys. He started watching 'Raw' and bought all these DVDs to understand what you guys do."

"He doesn't need wrestling to have something in common. Yes, wrestling is a huge part of our family, but we have more to our lives than that. We have children. We have political views. We love to travel. We have you. All he sees when he looks at us is wrestling, and that's just as narrow-minded as we're being."

"So you admit that you guys are all planning something!"

"We're not planning anything. But I will admit that we've come to a consensus as a family that he doesn't deserve you, nor is he what you want or need," Stephanie said diplomatically. At Sydney's shaking of her head, Stephanie sighed. "Look, do you guys have to go to New York this very weekend?"

Sydney shrugged. "I guess not. Why?"

Looking down at the floor, Stephanie suggested, "Why don't you guys come on the road with us for a few weeks. It'll give us a chance to spend more time with you, and consequently him, and he can see what we do."

"I'll talk to him about it," was all Sydney said before hopping off the counter and walking out of the kitchen, bagel and juice in hand.

* * *

"I think it's a fabulous idea! I could tell that I liked your sister!" Carter smiled, wrapping an arm around Sydney as he joined her on the bed.

"You like this plan?" Sydney asked, a little shocked. She may not have expected an out right refusal, but she at least anticipated some skepticism after the previous evening.

"Like she said, it gives us both more time with your family, or at least your father considering your sister is in no condition to travel, and I can see how your family lives and works," Carter pointed out. "Besides, you love traveling."

"Not domestically. Unless it's bicoastal," she whined, turning to fully face him and pulling her legs up onto the bed and tucking them under her.

"If your sister thinks it's a good idea, then I'll do whatever I need to," he assured her, rubbing her arms. "And the way I see it, if this some big conspiracy to show you how incompatible we are, then when we make it through, it will mean a lot more than my trying to win them over here," Carter reasoned.

With a roll of her eyes, Sydney sighed. "Why do you have to make so much sense?"

Carter chuckled as he placed a kiss on her forehead.

* * *

"Dude, everyone is acting so strange," Sydney sighed as she gazed up at the cloudless sky from her hammock in her parents' backyard.

"Well, this is _your_ family that we're talking about. Normal's not exactly the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of the McMahons," Randy teased.

Sydney rolled her eyes. "Oh you're so funny. I'm sure you've been waiting to use that one. But I'm being serious. You remember when I was at 'Raw' this week?"

"You mean the one where you kicked _me_, your _best friend_, out of _my_ meeting with your dad? I think I remember."

"Well, when we were talking, he started asking about me and Adam and if I was happy with him and all this other weird stuff. And then last night, during dinner, my dad, Shane, and Paul were all dicks to Carter and kept namedropping Adam. Then after dinner, Shane comes to find me and starts talking about Logan and Pierre and how Carter's just an imitation of Adam. And then this morning Stephanie wanted to lecture me about my supposed unhappiness with Carter," she said, getting frustrated just retelling the story to Randy.

"You said yourself that your dad doesn't like the man," Randy reminded her coolly. "He stood him up like five times. Are you all that surprised that he doesn't want you with him when he won't even meet him?"

"You're missing my point!" Sydney complained. "They're _all_ being weird about it. Yeah, I expected my dad to put up a fight when it came to meeting my third fiancé, but Shane and Paul and even _Stephanie_ are in on the weirdness."

"You're just being paranoid," Randy shrugged it off while mentally making a note about teaching the McMahon family a lesson in subtlety. "Or, maybe they all see something that you won't admit that you see. Is that what you want to hear? They're planning some diabolical scheme to trick you and Adam into getting back together because they don't have work, or kids, or their own relationships to busy themselves with. Instead, they'd all rather play cupid to you. It all makes complete sense now that I think about it."

"You're right, I sound stupid and self-centered," Sydney relinquished her argument. "It's just weird."

"Maybe you're just picking up on something that's not there. Why? I can't really say. Does it mean anything? I don't know. But from my perspective, you're blowing things way out of proportion."

"For once, I guess you're right." Sydney regretted the words as soon as they came out of her mouth.

"I'm _what_?" he asked, trying to get her to repeat the sentiment.

"Don't be such an asshole," Sydney chided.

"Say it!" Randy demanded with a smirk Sydney could hear through the phone.

"I didn't say anything."

"Say it!"

"No. Anyways, I have news! Guess!"

"Why do people say that? There are so many things a person can guess, it's a waste of time to tell someone to guess at all."

"Aren't you in a critical thinking mood today," Sydney commented before moving on. "Who cares? My news is that Carter and I are going to be on the road with you guys for a few weeks!"

"He's coming too?" Randy deadpanned.

"I thought you liked him," Sydney replied.

Randy shrugged though Sydney couldn't see. "He's okay. Not what I pictured you with, but hey, that's what divorces are for, right?"

"Thanks for your optimism."

"Oh, come on Syd. I was just joking."

"So you do like him?" she asked meekly.

"I didn't say that _exactly_. But it's not like I dislike him. He's just… I don't know him that well. And…"

"Randy, you know you're not any good at sugarcoating."

"Fine," he snapped. "Based solely on what I've seen between you two, he seems like he's good for you."

"But…" she filled in for him.

"_But_, including everything else, I think it's only temporary."

"If you plan on adding something about Adam at this point, I suggest you stop that train of thought right now."

"Don't get pissed at me. If you didn't want to know, you shouldn't have asked."

"You people are all starting to piss me off," Sydney practically growled.

"Hey, _you_ are the one who called _me_. _You_ are the one who brought up Carter. _You_ are the one who asked what _I_ thought about him. And now _you_ are going to get pissed at _me_? If you're going to be that way, I'm just going to hang up now."

"Fine, asshole," Sydney yelled into the phone.

"I'll see you on tomorrow. And you better not be still acting like a bitch then," Randy warned before hanging up.

Throwing the iPhone to the foot of the hammock, Sydney let out a quick scream of frustration. It really seemed like everyone was against her, and she couldn't wrap her mind around that concept. Carter was an amazing catch who any girl would be lucky to be with. And yet, here she was with the only family who didn't want him. Sitting up, she decided to go check if Carter had finished his work stuff that he had brought with him yet. She could use some cuddling at this point.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hello?" Chris basically grunted as he answered the phone call that was interrupting his afternoon nap with his daughters.

"Look Jerky, you need to stop talking to Adam," Randy ordered without any sort of greeting.

"Well hello to you too, Sunshine. I'm fine. How are you? Oh, that's great. Yeah, you know, just a lazy day with kids. Don't worry about interrupting naptime. What do you need man?" Chris carried on the conversation.

"Stop talking to Adam."

"You know, you're kind of cute when you're all jealous like this," Chris ribbed.

"I'm serious. You are fucking up all my hard work by telling Adam that he needs to get over Sydney and find closure and shit. She's coming on the road, so that makes my job a little easier, but that doesn't mean you can go trying to sabotage it either," Randy finally elaborated. "So stop!"

Was this really why Randy had called? "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious. Back off, alright?"

So the other night wasn't just Orton's drunken ramblings. Although – even if Randy had been drunk – a drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts. Could Chris really just let Adam go down that treacherous path of dating a McMahon again? Yes, the two had undeniable chemistry and seemed to instantly click, but she had also broken his heart. And the harder you fall in love, the harder love falls on you; Adam had been absolutely crushed. Though Adam wasn't what one would call fragile, Chris didn't want his friend to get caught up in a relationship with a woman who would just leave him without explanation again. If Adam and Sydney were to get back together, Sydney would have to swallow her pride and take her own action, not let her friends try to play matchmaker.

"You still there, Assclown?" Randy asked as Sierra awakened, rubbing her eyes.

"Twins are waking up. See you tomorrow at the house show!" Chris said overly cheerfully before hanging up.

* * *

"So I heard an interesting rumor," Chris sing-songed.

"And what's that?" Jason Reso asked, flipping through his DVD collection.

"I heard, that Sydney is going to be touring for a few weeks with the new fiancé and the family," Chris replied as he watched his son frolicking in the yard, occasionally stopping to come over to his father and sisters to say hi.

"That's… cool?" Jay said unsure of what Chris expected his reply to be.

Chris sighed, as he tucked his phone between his ear and shoulder to tend to Cheyenne. "Are you not concerned for Adam?"

"Concerned? Why would I be concerned?"

"Because the girl that your best friend is still hung up on is going to be showing off her fiancé," Chris pointed out. "And… I have suspicion."

"Dude, cryptic much?"

Chris rolled his eyes. "Fine. Obviously you heard that Sydney's engaged."

"Yeah. I think Trish told me a few weeks ago."

"So Monday after the show, I drove back to the hotel with Randy and Adam, and Adam tells us that he had a meeting with Vince, and Vince asked him to break up Sydney and her fiancé. Well, Adam said no, and Randy calls Cope out on still wanting her, and tells him to go after her, and that she's waiting for him, and blah, blah, blah. Now, Cope's been on the market for a year and a half and has yet to have another serious relationship. I don't think it's worth it to keep thinking about her and wanting her, so I tell him he needs closure. He needs to move on. Then he bolts out of the car once we get to the hotel, so I don't know what's going on in his head. But so like an hour ago, Randy calls me up and tells me to back off. That he's working to get Cope and Syd back together. And then it hit me!"

When Chris didn't continue, Jay prodded, "What hit you?"

"I thought Randy was just hammered when he was babbling, but if this is still his little project, then Sydney has to want him back! I mean, why else would Vince suggest something like that to Cope? And why else would Orton push so hard for him to take Vince's offer? There's no other explanation!"

"I don't know, Chris," Jay said. "It doesn't sound like Sydney's style. She's a grown woman, not a second grader on the playground who can't talk to boys."

"It's not about her being shy. It's about her being prideful. She's a McMahon, and this plan reeks of McMahon-ness. She can't admit that she was wrong in breaking up with Adam!" Chris explained exasperatedly.

"I guess. But if it's true and Syd wants to get back with Adam, wouldn't it best to just let him get back together with her. Obviously it's what he wants."

"You're willing to let your best friend risk getting his heart broken twice by the same girl? Fool him once, shame on her. Fool him twice, shame on him."

"I still don't know, man. I don't think this has anything to do with Sydney. For all we know, Randy doesn't like Sydney's fiancé, and you know how Randy's always willing to get things done his own way. Or maybe it's Vince's idea. He asked Adam to break them up," Jason reasoned.

Chris shook his head. "I don't believe it."

"You said it yourself. It's got 'McMahon' written all over it. Where do you think Sydney gets it?" Jay pointed out.

"It doesn't matter where she gets it. She could have won it on e-Bay for all I care, but we can't let Cope fall into her clutches again."

"Dude, I thought you liked Sydney."

"I do," Chris said defensively. "She's been nothing but a good friend to me, except for the whole breaking my friend's heart without a reason thing, but Cope's like a brother. And remember, it's bros before hos."

"How eloquent," Jay laughed. "I think you should just let things happen. Don't go interfering."

"But Randy's interfering. I need to counteract his interfering so that it'll be neutral and then whatever happens will happen."

"Or you two are just going to confuse the shit out of him," Jay suggested.

"I'd rather be confused than heartbroken."

"Shouldn't Adam be making that decision?"

"No," he answered easily. "He's still hung up on her, so his judgment is clouded."

"So what, you're going to follow him around the country to make sure he and Sydney don't meet? You realize that you have your own show to be on, right?"

With another sigh, Chris said, "No, I don't plan on following him. But I do plan on drilling into his head that he doesn't need her and that he's better off finding some girl who won't toy with him."

"So you think that for the year that they were together, Sydney was just playing with him?"

This drove Chris into a thoughtful silence for a few moments, and Jay relished in rendering the man speechless if only for a few seconds. "I don't know, man. I mean, she breaks up with him without giving him a reason. Without telling anyone but girl Trump what happened. It all seems kind of suspicious. But then they were my friends. I saw them together. They were in love. I just don't get it!"

"It's not for us to get. It's their business, and they're the ones who need to work it out."

"You're no fun," Chris pouted.

* * *

"Are you sure you really want to do this?" Sydney asked as she and Carter lagged behind her father and sister after getting out of the tension-filled limo at the arena parking lot.

Grabbing a hold of his fiancé's hand, he said "Absolutely. Besides, I would look like a coward to your father if we leave now."

"I can pretend to feel sick. I've been feeling a little flu-y," Sydney readily offered the lie. "I can say we'll join them at the 'Raw' show next Monday if I feel better, and by then we'll have come up with a better story. Or we'll just find something better to do."

"Come on," he ignored her suggestion as he pulled her to catch up with her father. "I'm really quite excited to see how everything works backstage," Carter told Vince enthusiastically.

"It gets hectic. Don't get in anybody's way," Vince warned without a glance at the young man.

Stephanie fought to suppress a grin, knowing that it would upset her little sister.

"Of course, Sir," Carter replied, refusing to let his resolve fall. "I do hope that after Sydney and I marry, that perhaps I could start working for the WWE as well. Perhaps it could lead to a partnership of sorts for our two businesses. It could help to solidify your presence in Europe."

"You're getting a little ahead of yourself," Vince muttered, nodding to the security guard as they entered the building. "Right now, I have a show to run, so if you'll excuse me. Are you going to watch the show from here or the box?" he directed his question to Sydney.

"Oh, I planned on showing Carter around backstage. We'll probably just watch in on the monitors or someone's locker room," she answered tightly, attempting to quell her frustration with her family.

Vince nodded. "I'll see you later then," he said as he leaned in to kiss his daughter's cheek, which she dodged as she tightened her hold on Carter's hand and hurriedly walked off from her father and sister. "Did you just see that?" Vince asked disbelievingly as he watched the couple leave.

Stephanie nodded with wide eyes and a tight smile.

"Don't you dare laugh," he warned as he too turned and headed toward his office.

Once Vince's back was turned, Stephanie allowed herself to smile openly, but bit her lip to stop from laughing as she followed behind Vince. It was always more fun to see one of her siblings in an argument with their father than arguing with him herself.

* * *

"I guess we could just introduce you to the wrestlers," Sydney suggested, as they leisurely wandered around the halls. She turned to look for a familiar face, but realized, that she didn't really have a familiar face to look for. Since she and Adam had broken up, she spent as little time around the business as possible, hence her numerous trips to Europe. And even before then, when she and Adam were still dating, she would only attend the _Raw_ and _Smackdown_ tapings, travelling with her father and sister, and would occasionally travel to a few house shows each month. So really, the only wrestlers still on _Raw_ that she kept consistent contact with were Paul, Shawn, and Randy, but she and Chris had grown close while she was dating Adam. "Have you met Chris yet?" She decided that it was best that he at least finished meeting the small handful of people that she was actually friends with first.

"I don't believe so," Carter replied thoughtfully.

"Well, then let's go. And I'm apologizing in advance for everything that he's going to say."

* * *

"I mean, they finally released me, no charges were pressed, and I got all the jelly out of my clothes, but it was just a whole debacle," Chris laughed as he finished retelling a Fozzy tour story from his time in England. "And the cop just had the worst teeth that I couldn't stop staring at every time that he opened his mouth! But don't worry, you have a pretty decent set," the Canadian assured the Brit as Sydney dropped her head into her hands.

"Well thank you for your approval. I appreciate it," Carter joked with a good-natured grin.

"You have my approval for as long as you treat Syd here like the princess we all know she wants to be," Chris replied, grinning at the McMahon heiress.

"Thanks for kissing my ass, Peasant Chrissy," Sydney cooed with a smirk. Although not expecting it, and unwilling to express her feelings aloud, Sydney did genuinely appreciate Chris' support of her relationship with Carter.

Chris bowed his head toward the young woman as he swept his arms out. "It is my pleasure, my lady."

"Dude, what are you doing?" Randy asked coming up behind Chris.

"How dare you not bow in the presence of your princess," Chris shamed the former WWE Champion with a horrendous faux British accent.

Randy stood there puzzled. "You two should probably get away from him before you catch whatever he has," he warned, taking a few cautionary steps away from the blonde and more toward his best friend. "So Carter, enjoying being backstage?"

"Well, I haven't seen much of the actual workings, nor have we really talked to anyone but Chris here, but it's quite enjoyable, yes."

Tossing the Brit an overly cheery grin, Randy continued, "Well, you know all the excitement is actually out in the ring and not back here, right?"

"I can imagine that."

With a shrug, Randy asked, "Well, you think you'd be interested in trying it out? I mean, if anything, just for perspective's sake."

"You mean getting the ring and wrestling?"

"Not for the show obviously, but the boys like to go out there and mess around before the show sometimes. You interested?" Randy prodded.

"That's probably not a good idea," Sydney answered for Carter. "He doesn't have any training. Or the appropriate clothes for that matter."

"Yeah. What if you hurt him, Rand-o?" Chris questioned offhandedly.

"I'll _teach_ him," Randy insisted. "Besides, it's not like I haven't wrestled in a suit before. You just need to take off the jacket."

"Randy," Sydney said warningly.

"Syd, relax. Your boy will be perfectly fine. I promise. So you in?" he asked Carter again. Seeing Carter's hesitation under Sydney's stare, Randy decided to throw down his trump card. "Actually, maybe it's better that you don't get in the ring. I mean, even though Shane and Steph have had matches in the past and his son-in-law is the top guy in the company, Vince discourages Sydney from getting in, so he probably wouldn't want you in there." Randy watched as Carter's eyebrows shot up at the mention of Vince's elder children and Paul, and only had to wait a second before Carter jumped up from his chair in acceptance. "Alright," Randy nodded, clasping a hand onto Carter's shoulder and leading him away from a gaping Sydney, who picked up on exactly what Randy had done in mentioning her siblings and in-law. Seeing no other option, Sydney just stood up, grabbed her purse, and followed her friend and fiancé.

Seconds later, Chris dashed out of catering to join them and watch the show.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hmm... So I'm not exactly sure why I didn't add this chapter before this because I have this chapter and the next chpater finished... I guess I just had a really long brain fart! So I'm really sorry for the epic delay. I fail! Haha. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter though!**

* * *

"Alright, so we're going to start with a bump," Randy informed his impromptu student. "Basically that's what you do every time you get hit. And you just," Randy demonstrated by going to the middle of the ring and taking his stance, "throw yourself back," he narrated as he landed flat on his back, "and that's a bump. Now you try," he instructed, standing up and moving off to the side.

Nodding, Carter figured that the move looked easy enough. Standing in the middle of the ring, he braced himself for the fall.

"You might want to lose the suit jacket. It usually just gets in way," Randy suggested just as Carter was about to throw himself back, causing Carter to spastically twitch to stop himself from falling.

Knowing how foolish he must have just looked, he let out a nervous chuckle. "Right," he muttered, pulling the jacket off and hanging it on one of the ring posts. Back in the center of the ring, Carter tried to copy Randy's earlier stance, took a breath, and threw himself onto the canvas. The blow wasn't nearly as painful as he had expected. He looked to Randy, who only had his mouth slightly open and looking as though he were contemplating what he just saw.

A few snickers were heard from the few wrestlers that were lounging around the ring – including Chris, who promptly received a smack to the shoulder from Sydney.

"That was… a good first try. You know, a lot of people are scared to hit the mat. So why don't you try that again, and this time," he said, motioning for Carter to stand up and move out of the way as he took the center of the ring, " try throwing your arms out more so that you don't use them to break your fall." Randy took another bump to demonstrate his point.

After a few more attempts, Carter finally took his first good bump, arms out to the sides and his back solidly hitting the mat.

"That was good. Try a few more to make sure you've got the hang of it," Randy told the Brit.

"And to make sure it wasn't an accident that he did it right," Chris muttered under his breath to Sydney. "I'm just kidding," he amended under her glare. "At least he's in there trying. I think it's a sign that he's up for whatever your family has to throw at him."

Sydney nodded before looking back to the ring.

"Alright, now that you've got the hang of that, you're going to take a hit," Randy announced, smirking mischievously once his back was to his student.

Putting on a brave face, Carter nodded as he awaited further instructions.

Without warning, Randy leaned into the ropes then catapulted himself into Carter with a flying elbow.

Carter, and Sydney, could only watch with wide eyes as Randy flew through the air into the Englishman. Forgetting – as Randy would later label Carter's momentary paralysis – to take his bump, Carter crashed unceremoniously to the ground with Randy's elbow landing solidly into his shoulder.

The onlookers, who had grown to a decent sized crowd, jeered as they saw the hit.

"You know, usually guys are early to take the bump when we teach this," Randy joked as he stood up, at which point Carter immediately grasped his shoulder with his other hand.

With a groan of pain, Carter sat up as Sydney rushed into the ring. "I wasn't quite expecting that."

"Finger Poke of Doom is a little too old school for me. Sorry, man," Randy apologized, extending a hand down to his student.

Carter released his grip on his right shoulder and accepted Randy's offer with his left hand.

"Alright Syd, move out of the way. Remember, this time you need to anticipate my coming at you and–"

"No more," Sydney interrupted, standing up and stepping between her fiancé and her friend.

Randy cocked his to the side with a dry look on his face. "Oh, come on, Syd. It's just a little ring mishap. He'll be fine. Just roll it out," he told Carter.

"I'm quite alright, darling," Carter half-heartedly told her.

Seeing Randy's shit-eating grin and Carter's look of determination, Sydney rolled her eyes and hopped out of the ring. "I'm watching you, Orton," she warned from her spot next to Chris.

Randy gave her a lazy wave of acknowledgment before turning his attention back to Carter and repeating his directions. "So anticipate my coming at you. It's all about the timing and making it look as realistic as possible. Now I'll go easier on you this time. It's going to be a basic clothesline. Think you can handle that?"

Carter nodded as he assumed his stance and raptly watched Randy lean against the ropes.

"You know what a clothesline is, don't you?" Randy asked half-mockingly.

Carter simply nodded again with his focus never wavering.

"Alright," Randy chuckled, amused at the man's concentration and seriousness. "Here we go," he announced as he pushed himself into the ropes, this time with much less force, and lunged at Carter with his right arm out.

The others watching from outside the ring shared a laugh as Carter took his bump when Randy was still a good few feet away from actually hitting him.

"Well, at least you remembered to actually take the bump this time…" Randy encouraged his pupil as he towered over the man on the mat, though the humor was evident in his voice. "Remember, it's all about the timing," he repeated as he went back to the edge of the ring. "Come on," he demanded after a few moments of waiting for Carter to get back on his feet. "I don't have all day."

"When do _I_ get to hit _you_?" Carter asked with a forced grin, standing up.

"Once you learn how to take a hit."

"Because I haven't done that yet?" Carter countered as he rolled out his shoulders, a hint of defensiveness in his voice.

"You ready?" Randy ignored the Brit's comment.

Narrowing his eyes, Carter nodded. He watched as Randy leaned into the ropes then began running at him. Watching Randy's outstretched limb, Carter this time waited a hair too long to take the bump and caught Randy's arm in his throat, adding to the force with which he threw himself to the ground.

"I think you've taught him enough," Sydney announced, stepping to the edge of the ring, watching as Carter coughed and took a few deep breast on the mat.

Randy looked down at her, ready to tell her to let them "mess around."

"I quite agree," Carter interjected, his voice strained from having the wind knocked out of him.

"I'm not done with my lesson though," Randy pointed out.

"He's not a wrestler. He doesn't have to learn any of this," Sydney argued.

"Well, maybe it'll help him get an in with Vince," Randy shrugged innocently, watching Carter's interest peak again as the man finally pulled himself to sit up.

"How much more of an in than getting married to me does he need?" Sydney retorted, hands on her hips.

"Well maybe he wants to discuss something other than _you_ when he speaks to Vince. Maybe he wants to talk about getting in the ring and beating the shit out of some guy. Wait, he can't. He's never _been_ in the ring and beaten the shit out of some guy," Randy shot back.

"And at this rate, he never will," Sydney pointed out.

"Sydney, Darling," Carter interjected, halting the argument, "if it worries you that much, we'll just go backstage again and I'll leave the wrestl_ing_ to the wrestl_ers_."

Tossing a triumphant smirk at Randy, Sydney helped Carter roll under the ropes and out of the squared circle. "We should try this again sometime," he called back to Randy as he and Sydney made their way back up the ramp.

"Nice elbow," Chris laughed from the apron, getting Randy's attention.

With his own smirk reappearing at the not-so-distant memory, Randy let out a short chuckle. "Thanks. It _was_ pretty awesome. Did you see the look on his face? He can't possibly last."

"Here? Or with Sydney?"

"Both," Randy clarified matter-of-factly.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Chris warned.

"And why's that?" Randy challenged.

Chris rolled his eyes. "He just spent the last fifteen minutes in the ring with you. Clearly this kid has no in-ring talent, nor much genuine interest in actually wrestling, but because you mentioned that it _might_ please Vince, he jumped all over it."

"So what? He wants to get on the good side of his soon-to-be father-in-law. I was willing to jump through hoops to please Sam's dad," Randy recalled his own experience with his father-in-law, pre-wedding.

With a bright smile, Chris chimed, "And look how that turned out. You two got married and Sam's dad tolerates you. I think Syd's going to go through with this one."

"Yeah?" Randy asked, stepping closer to the ropes and Chris. "How confident _are_ you?"

"One thousand dollars confident," Chris answered without missing a beat, puffing his chest out a bit and tilting his chin up at the taller man.

The first thought that ran through Randy's head was that Sydney would kill him for even considering this bet. But maybe in the end, after he won of course, she would find it endearing – he knew her so well that he could predict that she wouldn't go through with the wedding. But why was Chris willing to make this wager? After pretty much telling Chris that he was working to get Adam and Sydney back together, Randy thought that Chris would be stupid to make a bet on a situation that Randy was, in his mind at least, controlling. "Didn't I tell you to lay off Adam?"

"Just because I'm not in Adam's ear anymore, doesn't mean that I can't support my friend and her relationship. Besides, don't you know anything, Junior? You tell someone not to do something, and they're just going to want to do it more. But I have to admit, it is kind of cute that you think people actually listen to you," Chris teased, cutely scrunching his nose at Randy. "So are you in?" Chris asked, holding his hand out.

The third-generation superstar turned his head away from the blonde, thinking about his odds. Who was sneakier? Randy. Who had the abilities to plot and scheme? Randy. Who had better access to the two? They were both pretty even. Who was more competitive? Randy. Who had Vince McMahon backing him up? Definitely Randy. Shifting only his gaze back to his awaiting friend, he said, "You're on, Ass Clown," and accepted Chris' still outstretched hand.

* * *

**Well there it was! Let me know what you think! And thank you to the people who have been reviewing! It means a lot to me! I'm planning on uploading the next chapter some time next week... just to give you guys something to look forward to! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey, John," Sydney greeted the Massachusetts native.

"Hey, Syd," he returned pulling her into a friendly hug. "Hey, you must be Carter," he guessed, offering his hand. "John Cena."

Accepting the handshake, Carter asked, "Does everyone know Sydney's business?" assuming that the backstage fodder normally included McMahon family gossip, and therefore included the fact that he was present at the show that night.

"Well, yeah, but… yeah," John trailed off, deciding against saying what he was about to let slip.

"But what?" Sydney asked, picking up on the lead in.

John stuff his hands into the pockets of his baggy shorts. "But that's not how I knew who you were."

"Okay?" Sydney responded, clearly not getting what John was trying to say.

"All anyone backstage is talking about is how you got your ass handed to you by Orton," John finally explained. "But props to you, man. No training, no athletic gear, and you stepped into the ring with the Legend Killer himself and stood your own until he decided to play rough," he attempted to butter up the Brit.

Carter shook his head. "No, I was pretty terrible," he laughed. "That was probably a less than brilliant first impression if that's the story circulating around here."

"You would totally kick Randy's ass if it came to writing up a business proposal," Sydney assured him.

"And don't take it personally from Orton," John advised his new acquaintance. "Whenever he goes to the training schools and stuff, he likes to take them by surprise like that, too."

"Well I was certainly surprised," Carter admitted sheepishly.

"So what are you two up to?" John asked, looking expectantly at the couple.

"Well, I was planning on introducing Carter to some of the guys…" Sydney started to explain, not wanting to admit to her fiancé that she didn't actually _know_ very many of said guys.

Picking up on Sydney's discomfort, John suggested, "Why don't I take you around? You can go visit a few of the divas," he said to Sydney, "and Carter and I can go raise some hell in the locker room."

Sydney looked to Carter. "I think that sounds much manlier than following you around all night," he teased, puffing out his chest and putting a stern look on his face.

Shaking her head, she replied, "Whatever makes you feel the manliest, Dear."

"Well then, John, let us go hell raising," Carter announced proudly.

"Alright man, let's go. See you later, Syd," he said as he directed Carter down the hall.

"I want him back in one piece, John Cena!" Sydney threateningly called out to the pair of retreating backs.

John raised a fist in acknowledgement without turning back around.

With a roll of her eyes, Sydney muttered something about a "wannabe badass," before heading off to find… anyone she actually knew.

"Dad, do you really think your little scheme is such a good idea?" Stephanie asked her father after a few moments of staring intently at him from the couch in his office.

"Of course it is," he answered without looking up from his paperwork, still scribbling away.

Stephanie sighed. "I don't mean 'good idea' as in 'will it work'; I mean do you think it's the right thing to do?" she clarified.

"Yes," he said without a beat of hesitation. After a pause, he stopped writing to look at his daughter. "Why, are you having second thoughts about helping?"

"I don't know," she said, slouching back onto the couch. "He seems genuine enough, and Sydney obviously loves him."

"But…" Vince urged his daughter to continue.

Another sigh. "But I don't think she's in love with him, for lack of a less cliché term. It's just an easy relationship for her. And I think she confuses easy with 'meant to be.' They get along well, and enjoy spending time with each other, but there's no spark. There's no excitement. And that's not who she is."

Vince nodded in complete understanding. "Why else do you think she goes through so many boyfriends and fiancés? She gets caught up in the moment and doesn't really look at the person she's with. She thinks she's in love when really she's just distracted by a little bit of romance, exotic vacation spots, and lavish gifts. Then once she gets bored of playing with all her new trinkets and toys, she finally sees the person who gave them to her and realizes that he's not what she wants and she moves onto the next headache for me."

"She just wants to be in love," Stephanie smiled, thankful that as experienced as her sister was, she wasn't jaded into thinking true love couldn't exist.

"And there's nothing wrong with that," Vince assured Stephanie, picking up his pen and going back to work. "I just wish that she could stay in love."

"You really think Adam is the one for her?"

"Yes," Vince answered again without a trace of reluctance.

"So how'd you and Syd meet?" John asked, after leading him to the locker rooms.

"She was vacationing in Saint Tropez. I saw her tanning on her yacht, and I convinced my friends that we should pirate their boat," he grinned fondly at the memory. "So, we sailed up next to them and took over. I guess we're just lucky that she and her friends found it funny and endearing and not insane and creepy."

"So love at first sight?" John laughed, knowing that he himself had felt the rush of butterflies in his stomach the first time he met the wrestling heiress, though it lasted only a few days. Maybe he just had a thing for the McMahon women; he recalled that same feeling after meeting Stephanie, though it lasted much longer with the elder of the two sisters.

Carter shook his head. "No, it was definitely lust at first sight. But if Sydney knows how to do anything, it's how to make a man fall in love with her. I told her that I was in love with her after three days and thought about proposing a week after that."

"She definitely works fast," John laughed. "Your parents are going to love her."

With a roll of his eyes, Carter muttered, "I wouldn't be so sure. We only stayed in Saint Tropez for a week together, and then she came home with me to London. And she met my parents. My father likes her well enough, but doesn't know what to think of the wrestling and the fact that I'm her third fiancé. And she and my mother pretend that they get along, but they don't."

"Dude, isn't that kind of a deal-breaker? I know that if my folks didn't like my girl for legitimate reasons, I'd probably end up dumping her."

Carter shrugged. "I'm a bloody lucky bloke, I suppose," he mused with a smile. "My parents both said they approved of her because they saw how happy she made me. They could have easily said they didn't like her, but I probably would have just waited it out. And she agreed to marry me even though I know my mother drives her insane. I do admit my mother can be a bit… overbearing, but she means well."

"Yeah, Syd never was one for authority," John laughed. "Alright, man, so this is the main locker room," John announced as he pushed the door open and motioned for Carter to follow. As they entered the commonplace for most of the roster, Carter also recognized a few faces from the audience that his "lesson" with Randy had drawn. "Boys, this is Carter. He's the boss's future son-in-law so start kissing his ass now," John announced with a laugh.

"You shouldn't let Orton push you around like that. He has a big enough of an ego as it is." Dave Batista jokingly warned the newcomer with a firm handshake. "So you're Syd's new toy?" he inspected the relatively smaller man.

Brushing off the last comment, Carter tightly asked, "Did you have the pleasure of seeing my embarrassment first hand?" A forced chuckle followed his question.

"No. But people are definitely talking about it," Batista nodded with a slightly sympathetic look. But really, how much pity could The Animal feel toward a rich boy marrying into another rich family? And so went the rest of the introductions: subtle, faux-joking remarks about Sydney followed by a "playful" rib about his lesson with Orton.

Carter hoped he wouldn't have to be this hands-on every week with all the wrestlers.

"What the hell was that?" Sydney demanded to know of Randy once she caught up with him again.

Randy rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around the McMahon daughter, leading her in the direction he had originally been traveling. "It was just a little harmless hazing. If he's going to be a part of your family, he's going to be a part of _our_ family. It's only right he go through a little welcome ritual," he explained nonchalantly to his best friend, whose glare he could feel boring into the side of his skull.

After a moment, Randy nervously glanced down at her.

"If he can't handle it, maybe this is the wrong place for him," Randy said defensively, turning away from the young woman.

Sydney sighed in frustration as she began dragging her feet, forcing Randy to pull more than politely guide her. "You finally learned to play nicely with the other children. Why can't you do the same for him?"

"I played with him like he was any other kid on the block," Randy stuck his nose up.

"That's my point," she snapped, squirming out of Randy's grip. "He's not just another wrestler. He's my fiancé and your soon-to-be boss, and you need to treat him as such. Please, Randy," she looked at him pleadingly. "Of all people, I expected you to be happy for me. Even if you don't like him, can't you just be nice? For me?"

It was Randy's turn to sigh. "So what I actually think about the situation doesn't matter? So the fact that he's the wrong guy for you doesn't matter? So the fact that you're being too proud to admit that you were wrong doesn't matter?" His voice grew with each question.

Sydney stared back at him wide eyed. "What makes you think you're right in all of this?" she shouted. "You don't even know what happened and you think that you can tell me what's right and what's wrong in the situation. Well you can't! And if you can't do this for me, as my best friend…" she trailed off as she shook her head.

"Sydney," Randy said, subtle roll of his eyes, "you're blowing this out of proportion. It was just a little rib. And maybe if you told somebody, _any_body, about what happened… I mean, you tell us that Adam didn't do anything wrong, but you won't tell us what happened, and you won't get back together with him. But you won't tell us what you did, which makes us think it was him, but you seem to be protecting him by not telling us. What are we supposed to-"

"Because it was me!" she yelled. Sydney closed her eyes, taking a deep breath while pulling her temper back in. "It was me. That's all you need to know, and that's all I want you to know about it. Take it or leave it."

"I'm only thinking about you," he said seriously, gripping Sydney's shoulders. "I don't want you to regret anything."

"I won't," she insisted stubbornly. "If you think my marriage is a bad idea, maybe this friendship is a bad idea," she retorted, turning and walking away.

"Sydney," he called out after her.

She didn't stop.

"Sydney, come on! We disagree over one little thing, and…" Randy groaned as he leaned against the wall as he watched his best friend stomp away.

___________________

**Author's Note: Hey! Ok, so I know that there hasn't been much Adam in the story so far compared to the others, and it _is_ about him, but things are starting to pick up now (finally, I know - sorry!), so you'll be seeing a lot more of him! I promise! And don't forget to review! :D**

**And thank you to everyone who has been reviewing and subscribing to the story! It means a lot to me!**


	9. Chapter 9

"Good night, Daddy," Sydney said tightly, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek before following Carter into their suite. Once the door was closed, she began stripping as she made her way to the bedroom, dropping her purse and clothes unceremoniously on the floor until she was down to her bra and matching panties. She climbed on the bed and slumped against the headboard.

"Rough night?" Carter asked, leaning against the doorframe.

Sydney looked up, her sad eyes meeting his concerned ones. "That's an accurate description."

"What's happened?" he asked, pushing himself upright and making his way over to the bed.

Pulling her legs into her chest signaling for Carter to sit where her legs had been stretched out, she rolled her eyes. "It's just Randy being a jackass," was all she offered him for an explanation.

"Really?" Carter pretended to ponder the thought. "And I thought he had such a soft-spoken and subtle disposition," he muttered.

Sydney gave her fiancé a light shove. "I know he can be a bitch sometimes, but he's really a good guy," she assured him. "Usually," she quickly added as an after thought.

Cocking his head to the side, Carter loosened his tie before reaching over to pull Sydney into his lap. "Do you want me to beat him up for you?" At Sydney's disbelieving look, he pouted, "I could take him. I'd beat him to a bloody pulp."

"Of course you would," Sydney cooed, stroking the Brit's face tenderly.

"Are you patronizing me?" he asked good-naturedly.

"Absolutely," Sydney managed to get out with a smirk before letting out a shrill giggle as Carter swiftly took her down and pinned her to the bed.

"Well then… at least let me prove that I can make you feel better," he propositioned her, lightly nibbling her neck.

With a sigh, Sydney closed her eyes and let her mind forget her problems with the third generation superstar.

* * *

"_Come on, Baby. Just tell me what's going on. We can fix this."_

"_No, we can't!" she cried. "There's nothing to fix. I… I just can't… I'm sorry."_

"_Sorry for what?" he questioned gently, cupping her face in his hands and turning her head back to face him._

_Sydney looked up at him with bleary eyes. "It doesn't matter. It's hard enough for me to look at you without your knowing what happened. Just let it go. We're done. I'll come back when you're on the road to get my stuff. I have to go now," she rushed, picking up her Chloe bag and heading toward the front door._

"_Stop," he called out, grabbing her arm._

Sydney always wondered what would have happened – if she had stopped; if she had told him the truth; if she hadn't been so selfish. He could hate her even more than he did now. He could have forgiven her. They could have still had a future together. But more than likely, he would want nothing to do with her.

Lying next to Carter, watching his chest rise and fall, Sydney was overwhelmed with guilt – for the way Randy had treated him; for subjecting him to her insane family; for thinking about her ex-boyfriend after she and her current fiancé had just made love.

She had to turn away.

She had to _get_ away.

Slipping out of their bed, she quickly tossed on her jeans from earlier that day and grabbed the zip-up hoodie sitting atop her suitcase. Without a second thought, she silently crept out of the room then promptly realized she didn't really have anywhere to go. So, she made her way to the stairwell and proceeded to repeatedly drag herself up a few flight of stairs, then back down, occasionally taking a break on a floor landing.

After about twenty minutes of looping stairs, Sydney realized how dangerous quiet time alone with her thoughts could be. Now that she didn't even have a distraction in the form of Carter or Randy to keep her mind off… things, all the quiet did was magnify the sounds of her memories.

"_Is something burning?" Adam asked, sniffing the air suspiciously._

_Sydney's eyes went wide and she ripped herself out of Adam's arms and off the couch. Running into the kitchen, she immediately turned off the oven before throwing the door open. Adam entered just in time to see the initial cloud of smoke swallow his girlfriend. Her coughs were just audible over the sound of the fire alarm._

_Once the black, brick-like mass was thrown into the garbage and the windows were opened, Adam asked, "Baby, what the fuck were you trying to make?"_

"_An anniversary cake," the brunette pouted, snuggling back into the Canadian's arms. "It's our six-month anniversary tomorrow," she told him casually as though he had forgotten._

"_But you don't bake," he pointed out. "You don't cook at _all_. The one time I asked you to make toast, you burned it," he laughed._

"_Exactly – it was one time! And maybe I like my toast black and… crispy… and inedible," she said defensively._

_Adam pressed a kissed to the crown of her head and shrugged. "Then maybe I like my anniversary cakes that way too."_

Since then, Sydney had mastered the art of canned soups, boxed macaroni, and yes, toast. Now that she thought about it, Adam owed how good of a cook he was to her.

But she shouldn't be thinking about it.

She _couldn't_ think about it.

* * *

Adam anxiously drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Pulling into the parking lot, he saw the McMahon limo sitting aside the back entrance of the arena. Turning off the engine, Adam let his head fall onto the head rest and his eyes close.

Taking deep breaths, he tried to ease the knot of tension in his stomach. Of course he had always hoped that Sydney would come back – for the first few weeks he kept expecting her to walk through the front door of his house, or barge into his locker room with a bag of takeout and an apology for being so irrational. He never thought about what it would be like to see her after a year and half.

What was he supposed to say to her? Was he supposed to even look at her? Would she even acknowledge him? Of he could look at her, and of course she would acknowledge him. Stupid questions, he berated himself. Why was he so nervous? She never made him nervous.

"_Adam?"_

_The wrestler turned at the sound of his name, and there stood the youngest of the McMahon children – a vision in… _orange_. "Sydney."_

_The brunette bounced over to the Canadian, who was currently holding a package of ground beef. "Do you live around here?" she asked, inspecting the assortment of raw meat in front of them._

"_Actually, I do. You don't live down here, do you?" he replied. He had been introduced to the baby of the McMahon family numerous times but had never really had any in-depth conversation with her. Their interactions were usually limited to gossip or current storylines._

_She shook head. "No. I know the executive chef at Busch Gardens, so I'm visiting for the weekend. And since he'll be doing the actual cooking, I got grocery duty."_

"_Well it's only fair," Adam reasoned with a grin._

"_I'm not complaining as long as I don't have to cook or clean up afterwards," she said matter-of-factly._

_The blonde pretended to think for a moment. "I believe the rule of thumb is that one person cooks and the other person cleans. Sorry."_

"_Really? That's never happened to me before," she pondered. "Why don't you come to dinner too? That way I can get groceries, he can cook, and you can clean!" she suggested, grabbing onto Adam's arm in the excitement of coming up with such a brilliant solution to her domestic problem._

_He laughed. "That's not usually the conventional way to ask someone to dinner…"_

_Sydney rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Please, I wouldn't _actually_ ask you clean… unless you would if I did," she added cheekily. "No, but really, you should come. His food is awesome, and he loves showing off. And I promise it will be so much better than whatever you were going to make with _that_," she said, pointing to the ground beef still in his other hand._

_Slowly, Adam nodded. "If anything, I'll get a free meal," he joked._

"_And my company," Sydney added with a wink._

Adam had taken the wink as a sign of flirtation and accepted. As he found out later that night at dinner, it wasn't. When Sydney had said she "knew" the executive chef, she actually meant that she was "dating" the executive chef – a fact that Nate, the chef, liked to remind the wrestler of throughout the night. However, all Nate's overt displays of affection had done for Sydney was convince her that he was too clingy for her taste. Apparently she had broken up with him that night because the next day she called Adam to see if he wanted to hang out because her flight wasn't for another few days, and she no longer had a boyfriend with whom to pass the time.

That weekend marked the first of many that would be spent in Tampa with Adam. The following few weeks passed with telephone conversations that lasted from as little as a minute to just say hi, to three hours while the two ate dinner at their respective homes together and shared stories.

Then he asked her to visit him – like a date. He rolled his eyes when she made a smart remark about how her flying to him was worse than if he had honked at her from the driveway, but she accepted. After a month of casual dating, if any form of long-distance dating could be considered casual, the couple made it official during an argument – in true McMahon fashion.

_Adam glared at the brunette as she hung up her phone call. "Are you still seeing other guys?"_

"_Yeah, when you're gone," she answered casually, tucking the device back into her purse. "So?"_

_He gaped at her. "You're seeing other guys," he repeated, this time as an accusation._

"_Your point?" she responded, clueless as she turned on the couch to face him._

"_You're dating _me_."_

_Sydney shook her head in disbelief. "Don't tell me you're _really_ trying to pull this double standard bullshit," she muttered. "So what, you want to look like a stud to the boys? You tell them that you have the boss's daughter wrapped around your finger while you have a string of groupies on speed dial? It's not like you're my boyfriend. I can see whomever I want," she nearly shouted, marking her point by turning away from him and crossing her arms._

_At this, Adam broke into a grin. "You think I'm still seeing other women?"_

_This took the twenty-three-year-old by surprise, but she kept her face stony. "Aren't you?" she asked unyieldingly, refusing to simply let her anger go._

"_No."_

_When he didn't say anything else, all she could say was, "No?"_

"_No," he repeated. "Do you think I have time to see anyone else? I'm on the road or with you, not that I'd want to be with anyone else."_

"_Really?" she asked, her eyes softening._

_He nodded._

"_Well then why didn't you say anything? How was I supposed to know that you weren't seeing anyone else, or that you wanted to only be with me?" she snapped._

"_I guess I just assumed we understood each other. I mean, you've been flying down here almost every week. I guess I thought that meant you were interested in something more than a casual hookup," he explained with shrug at the end._

"_Well you should have asked anyways," she said angrily though the guilt on her face was obvious._

And so he asked, and she finally accepted after a few more minutes of pouting.

The next year and a half wasn't a complete dream, as was to be expected when you were dating a McMahon – they had more than their fair share of arguments, but they always came out stronger for it in the end.

The first time she stormed out was during an argument about her excessive partying and Adam's thinning tolerance for her wasting her life. She slammed the door in his face as he tried to run after her - a habit he quickly grew out of - and ignored him for a week. When she showed up at his locker room door at _Raw_ with apology cupcakes, she told him that she'd convinced her father to hire her as an apparel designer for the company.

Another particularly memorable fight had been about the ring rats hanging around and hitting on him. She had answered his home phone to be greeted by the moans of a woman who claimed to have been intimate with the wrestler. Sydney confronted her boyfriend and he denied any such involvement with the delusional woman. After interrogating Randy, she came to accept the fact that the woman had been lying, and Adam found that to be the perfect segue to ask Sydney to travel with him.

And now here she was. On the road again, but this time it was with another man. At least he wasn't a wrestler. Adam didn't know how he would handle having to work with his ex's new fiancé. Actually, that was a lie; he'd probably try to break his face every time they got in the ring. Randy and Chris had both called the previous day to tell him about Carter's "lesson" with the Legend Killer, and he had admittedly found it very amusing.

But at the thought of getting a hold of Syd's fiancé, Adam's anger rose as he realized that Chris was right – for once. It had been over a year and he was still holding onto the memory of their relationship. He needed to confront her and end it cleanly. He could not have any more questions about what had happened between them. No more haunting memories. And no more self-destructive, one-night stands.

With a newfound sense of determination, he got out of the rental and strode into the arena, prepared to end it all tonight.

* * *

A/N: So wow... it's been a while since I updated. And the thing was that I've had this chapter just sitting around on my computer. Haha. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Let me know what you think!


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